PULSE AUTOCYCLE NETWORK

[Jim Finch]

I am working on 274. There seem to be a old cable that ran between the rear axle and an old shock mounting is that something the factory put on to reduce the shock travel? I have air up the shocks and they only moves about 2 inches is that normal? I have read that a few people like the coil over shocks, What are your thoughts on the shocks.
I also need new inserts or ferrules for the shocks air lines. Does anyone have a resourse for them . I have a 1200 Honda and the Honda dealer does not have them .
Was there any support for the rear tailsections. The only thing I have is the radiator mount. It looks like a dog wagging its tail.
Thanks

[elden simons]

Ya, that is a bit embaressing to have the tail section wobbling like that.
On #308, the upper rear body shell is secured like this:

First off is the wall behind the passengers head (shelf area), with that removed, there are two mounting bolts that secure the rear upper body to the rear roll bar.

Then, there is the bolting areas (screw actually) that connect the rear upper body shell to the main body. It isn't considered by me as a terrific idea either.

Finally, there is what some people call the 'diaper'. That V-shaped body piece that is a finishing piece to blend the exhaust area and tail end more smoothly. And, that is attached to the already poorly supported rear upper body piece.
---------------------------------

So, presently I have that same body shell off right now, I once had been experimenting on sizing a custom fuel tank and had to remove and install the shell a couple of times. In the mean time, it deffinately drooped without getting attached to the roll bar.

I am guessing two things. The body shell to your vehicle doesn't bolt to the roll bar. Or It isn't a very rigid body piece (to include where it attaches to the main body).

*What does anyone else think?

[Bob Hichborn]

From my experience with Pulse #77 and a few others, is that the entire main body section is secured to the frame by only 4 bolts on the bottom and 4 bolts on the mounting plate which is welded to the "goose neck". The tail relies on its connection to main body for support, which is painfully inadequite, hence the "sag". I've added 2 side brackets which bolt to the orginal frame and the upper rear corners of the main body. This keeps the body and tail panels from flexing in/out. then I've added a mounting support coming up from the rear of the GoldWing frame (there's a nice heavy cross brace just over the rear wheel, can't remember but it may be a combo seat/gas tank bolting location)and attaching to the vertical flat surface in the gas filler opening. Essential my tail now rests on this very strong steel vertical support vs air as per the original design.

Ideally, the body should have a few side mount points, but since there's no side steel framing to mount to it's a mute point. What I've noticed on several Pulses is that over time the side walls tend to sag down allowing the small winglets (the area you step up on) to lay on the steel outrigger support frames. This causes fiberglass fractures in the areas where the outriggers attach.

As far as the shocks, my GL1100 shocks move around 2 inches also between fully inflated and deflated. So, your experience appears normal. I think having the inflatable shocks in the rear allows you to adjust the outrigger driving height without the hassle of getting underneath and messing with outrigger height adjustment rods. Those that have the coil overs in the rear may have a different opinion on this.

I'm not sure what the cable is that you're describing, but from the Pulses I've had close contact with, I've found a host of "odd" design features. In a way, that what makes having one of these vehicles interesting, there's no 2 that are alike....
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"

[elden simons]

Jim, You left me a PM about not having a rear roll bar on 274.

Sorry, can't send you a photo since I use a WebTV unit that doesn't do such.

I kind of thought it a bit strange that the Rear Roll Bar was listed as an extra charge on the Owosso Motor Car Company order form.

Jim, you see, that right behind the passengers head is the storage shelf (air conditioner shelf for others). Then there is the removeable wall (carpet over thin plywood)...then there is the squarish frame of the rear roll bar that helps secure the rear upper body shell via wood blocks fiberglassed into the underside of the shell and bolts (thick wood screws I think).

If you want a picture, maybe someone else will know what link to post here for ya.
_________________
Tammy and Elden have Pulse #308 from 1988.Built in Butcher's Barn and presently sets inoperative in their garage. We are still keeping it!

[mikepulse325]

Jim, Nelson is dead on about the fiberglass blocks on the underside of the top shell. Pulse 325 has two carriage bolts that go through the blocks and into holes drilled in the "roll bar" behind the carpet screen. You would have been able to see them on mine in Marion as we were lucky enough to hear a "clink" while driving slow and I found the bolt on a walk back along the road. Problem was they were often secured with a regular nut and between bumps in the road and gentle pull down, the nuts work loose and you lose the bolts. I replaced with self locking nuts. If for some reason your blocks do not have holes in them and the shell lays on the roll bar with the blocks acting like, well "blocks" I suggest you go ahead and drill into them and the "roll bar" and get bolts and locking wingnuts or locking nuts.

[mikepulse325]

Sorry I meant Elden, not Nelson for his post on the blocks.

[Jim Finch]

Looks my problem is I have only 1 roll bar. Can anyone send me a picture of the rear roll bar. I may have to make one.
Thanks Jim

[elden simons]

I tried for an hour 'Googling' for something about autocycle, pulse, litestar, bd200, etc... rollbars.
Google is good, but I havn't nailed down anything usefull.

Even the 'naked pulse' doesn't have a rear roll bar. I'm not up to looking at all the pages on the main autocycle archive page.

But, what I wasn't looking for, I found!

Jim, go to this address to see about Shock Straps. The site belongs to Don Muddiman. Don't try his email link on that site. I believe it doesn't work.

http://www.eagle-i.us/pulse/tech_index.htm

The reason for shock straps: air shocks tend to 'Unload' during unexpected situations. Making vehicle operation hazzardous.
Such the reason why many owners are choosing not to keep air shocks for the front wheel. I've experianced such from only a sudden side wind.

I went from one lane to the next in nothing flat. Lucked out.

[mikepulse325]

Jim, I'll remove the carpet panel in the back and take shot shots this weekend. I have to get a look at my reverse anyways. It's not really much of a "roll bar". It is 1 inch square tubing attached to top of donor bike frame. Mike

[Bob Cervero]

Hey guys! When I bought Pulse #61 it had coil springs front and rear. It was OK but didn't allow me to easily adjust ride heighth for 1 versus 2 riders. I installed air shocks on the rear only to allow me to adjust the ride heighth when my wife was on board.
The problem with the air shocks was that during a turn the air shocks would rise up because of unloading during the turn. This would cause my Pulse to be way too high for about 5 seconds after a turn and put the outriggers way off the ground. Not very stable. The solution was to restrict the upward movement of the air shocks with a rubber strap between the shock mounting bolts. This strap would keep the air shock from extending too far but didn't restrict them during normal riding.
To use a shock strap first bring your Pulse to a normal ride heigth by adjusting the air shocks. Then measure the distance between the mounting bolts for the shocks. Make a strap preferably using some type of stiff rubber. We used a cloth reinforced rubber strapping material. Make the strap long enough to allow the air shock to rise a couple of inches above normal ride heighth.
Take your Pulse for a ride and see how it feels in a turn and decide if it still rises in a turn too much. If so shorten the strap a bit. Keep doing this until you are happy with your Pulse in a turn. These straps really made a difference in Pulse #61.

[Bob Hichborn]

Bob,

Did replace your coil overs with Honda Goldwing inflatable rear shocks or did your Pulse not have the Honda conversion? I'm looking for alternative shock solutions for my Goldwing donor. They just don't hold air too well. I thought about adding the onboard air compressor, but just fishing for solutions right now.

Bob
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"

[Bob Cervero]

I found a set of Monroe air shocks. My Pulse originally had the stock coil overs front and rear. I had to modify the original mounts if I remember correctly. I added an onboard compressor from J C Whitney. It came with a gauge and switches for adding and removing air from the shocks.

[Jim Finch]

I just installed a pair of air shocks on my 1200 Goldwing using the part number listed on the web site 49212. The bushings width had to be reduced too fit into the frame. It took a lot of cutting and grinding to reduced the width. When I supplied air too them they only went up about 2 inches . If the 1/8 air line is push in too far it blocks the orifice into the shock tube. I pulled back the line and retighten the nut now I have full travel. These shocks are listed under a 1 ton Chev. 85-91.

[Bob Hichborn]

As I begin putting together Pulse proto-type #1 this week, I felt I needed to revisit the whole front shock discussion.

I feel the 58575 Monroe shocks we have spec'd for the front suspension are really not appropriate for the weight of the Pulse, as well as, a desireable ride height. The spec on these coil over shocks show a length range of 9 to 14 inches, which is not necessarily bad, but load rating is way too much for the roughly 500 to 600 lbs sitting on the front wheel.

The 58575 from what I can tell is really rated for supplying your vehicle an extra stiff suspension under load. So we have 2 shocks on a single wheel each rated at 1000lbs plus. At those numbers, we might as well weld the front end like the old Harley hardtail. l understand these shock were designed for Chey trucks and vans.

I believe this explains alot of the incredibly rough ride many of us are experiencing. Of course, if we soften up the front suspension we also run into potential issues with the outriggers gettiing bounced into the ground, which opens up another whole set of discussions on vehicle control under various driving conditions.

As I integrate the 80 Goldwing this week, I'll also be doing some reseach on a better shock absorber solution. What I'll be looking for first is any easy Off The Shelf solution. One that has the same hole diameter, same end widths, so it fits in the existing Pulse supports, but a shock that is both 2 inches shorter and rated for a lighter load.

Not sure that this shock exits without going custom. The other option is to look a older motorcycle coilover shocks that had similar upper and lower mounts.

Any thoughts from the Pulse collective?

- Bob
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"

[elden simons]

Maybe I can jingle our archive master's interest to go to Plant 2 and inquire about the Pulse yet to be birthed from there.
Sue Butcher's Son-in-Law took up interest in the unfinished autocycle yet there. Maybe the front shocks are still recognizable for what manufacture they are from.

[pulse220]

When I rebuilt Pulse 220, I went with air shocks in the front again. I also had to slightly modify the mounts, but other than that, I have had no problems. My shocks do not "unload" during a corner as some have experienced. Anyway, the ride is not bad at all. Maybe I just got lucky.

For the rear, I used the stock Kawasaki monoshock that I adjusted the dampening on. Although, since i raised the Kawasaki rear about 1 7/8" with custom adjustable dogbones, I may have to make a new mount to lessen the rear shock travel if it gives me a problem. Again, so far so good on the rear too but I've been keeping an eye on it.

With that said, I did some shock research about 1 1/2 months ago for a different project. As you may or may not know, my brother and I are building a 1960 vespa 400 Microcar and we put a 1200cc engine Harley in the back for "motorvation". It's about 95% done, we're just having some issues with chain adjustment. (but that's another story on it's own..)

Anyway, we had to come up with a rear shock, since the Vespa rear is highly modified for the engine set-up. ( it now runs with jackshafts, chains and sprockets, to a Mitsubishi rear and halfshafts) We also raised the rear for a "raked" look.

Ok, now to the point of all this..... we used shocks from QA1. They build everything from streetrod to racing shocks. They are "quasi-custom" in that you use stock parts coupled with parts based on your weight, height etc. to build a shock. Since the Vespa microcar only weighs about 780 lbs total, we had a similar weight issue.

QA1's tech line was extremely helpful. After weighing the rear of the car, determining static height, as well as legnth of travel, we decide to go with their 82 series circle track, aluminum bodied shocks with 1 7/8 " coil spring for small body shocks. The shocks come in various legnths (including a 9.38 to 13.75) and the springs come in various spring rates.


Here's some links for info:

QA1: http://www.qa1.net/qa1_motorsports/index.html

82 series shocks : http://qa1.thomasnet.com/viewitems/otorsports-circle-track-aluminum-shocks-small-body/aluminum-small-body-shocks?&plpver=1001&forward=1

Springs for small body shocks : http://qa1.thomasnet.com/viewitems/motorsports-circle-track-springs/1-7-8-i-d-coil-springs?&plpver=1001&forward=1

It's something to look at, maybe it will help...
Chad

[Bob Hichborn]

Chad,

Thanks for the links and suggestions.

Yeah, what I've learned is to first buy a shock that fits the travel and mounting requirements, then separately select the coil or "helper spring" to meet your weight requirements. Since Pulse owners have 2 springs within a foot or so of each other we can definitely use a lighter coil.

Now, having said that... the outrigger design throws a real monkey wrench into the equation. Since most owners are riding with all 4's on the ground, having a light suspension up front could cause alot of unwanted stress on the outrigger assembly when driving on roads that are less than favorable. (which I think is a large percentage to roads in the US today)

- Bob
_________________
"Everyday you wake up with a Pulse,
is a good day!"